Some Very Exciting News

We are MedSend grant recipients!!!

For those of you who don't know who MedSend is, they are an organization who takes over loan repayment for healthcare professionals who are serving overseas as medical missionaries. So many of the doctors, nurses, and other medical people who are serving overseas today have either had to work a number of years before going just to pay off school loans, or they have had to raise money so that they could afford to pay their loans while serving overseas. Enter the amazing organization called MEDSEND.Founded just over 20 years ago, MedSend actually raises money for these missionaries to receive grants that take over the payment of their loans so that they can 1) get to the field quicker, and 2) stay on the field longer. I can't imagine the impact this has made in the area of medical missions over the past 20 years, enabling people who are called to go to carry out the passion of their calling!

How Our Path Crossed with MedSend

We've known about MedSend for a number of years, and known that when the time came, we probably would be applying for a grant through them. But is it coincidence or God's provision that during our time in Bundibugyo, the president of MedSend decided to charter a plane out to Nyahuka village (aka The Middle of Nowhere), bringing with him a camera man to film the dire needs that are seen in the Pediatric Ward there? Is it coincidence or God's provision that they did not arrive on time and ended up having to charter the 6-seater flight out to our airstrip on the same morning that we were scheduled to depart? And is it coincidence or God's provision that not only did 1) we get to meet the President 2) he got to see firsthand the need of where we'll be serving or 3) he generously paid for our flight back to Kampala? (we returned to the capital in the plane that he arrived in, planned on splitting the fare with him, and ended up not having to pay a cent!...I guess that's just how they roll...)

Anyway, I'm sure Rick Allen doesn't even remember meeting us on that airstrip, but I'm sure glad that God allowed our paths to cross. I'm really thankful that someone is advocating for the immense needs in Bundibugyo, and that people who believe in God's call on our lives are taking a part in getting us there. What a blessing to be given the gift of loan repayment so that we can actually make it to the field in a timely manner!

Now, Things to Pray For

1. The funding for our grant to come through (we've been accepted as grant recipients, but now MedSend starts the process of raising the money for our grant). This process takes between 6-24months, but we are scheduled to be on the field in 11 months, which is when they would start taking over payments.

2. Details to work out for us to attend a week-long mandatory training on Agriculture and Community Development through ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization). We really wanted to attend this workshop anyway but didn't know how the logistics would work out. Looks like we'll probably be going in the Fall.

3. That others would see the need that MedSend has seen and take part in sending us to serve there. We've been so greatly encouraged by the way God has provided for us so far, and know that it is not "us" recruiting people for "a good cause" but rather Him gathering people who together desire to make a difference in the lives of people who are suffering and in need.

a video about MedSend that features interviews of the physicians we'll be working with (Travis Johnson & Jessica Ankney) as well as some short clips of the ward where we'll be working in Bundibugyo